Photo Courtesy: national oceanic and atmospheric administration, NOAA Five people have died after Hurricane Florence made landfall in North Carolina, bringing strong winds and heavy rains. Residents of western North Carolina have been warned they may see flooding and landslides, with some weather models predicting more than 50 inches of rain for parts of North Carolina.…

US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Joseph Dunford said he and the White House maintain a “routine dialogue” about military options for a response to Syria using chemical weapons in an expected assault on Idlib. Mr Dunford said no final decision has been made about whether use of chemical weapons would trigger a US…

US President Donald Trump has warned that he is prepared to put tariffs on nearly all Chinese imports into the US, with threats of tariffs for a further $US267 billion in good. This would be in addition to the $US200 billion worth of goods that are about to be hit by levies in the next…

George Papadopoulos, a former campaign aide for the Trump 2016 campaign, has been sentenced to 14 days in prison on charges of lying to federal agents investigating collusion between the campaign and Russia. The prosecution claims that Mr Papadopoulos lied to investigators about his contact with Russians during the campaign “to minimize both his own…

South Korean President Moon Jae-in is continuing to push for “irrevocable progress” in North Korean denuclearisation by the end of the year, preparing for his third summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The focus of the Pyongyang summit between the two Korean leaders will be on achieving denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. South Korea’s…

An American political consultant with ties to Konstantin Kilimnik and a Ukrainian political party has pled guilty to failing to register as an agent of foreign interests, agreeing to cooperate with the Mueller investigation. W. Samuel Patten, 47 admitted to procuring $US50,000 from a Ukrainian politician to fund US President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee, in…

China is using fake LinkedIn profiles in attempts to get close to Americans with access to state and commercial secrets, according to a Reuters report quoting the US counter-intelligence Chief, William Evanina. According to Mr Evanina, China is using LinkedIn to contact thousands of members at a time, but he refused to comment on the…

The US halted funding to the United Nations Relief Works and Agency (UNRWA), which has been assisting Palestinian refugees. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert claims the UNRWA is an unsustainable and “irredeemably flawed operation”. “The administration has carefully reviewed the issue and determined that the United States will not make additional contributions to UNRWA,” she…

The European Union’s decision to give $US20.7 million in aid to Iran has been met with criticism from the top US envoy on Iran, who said it sends “the wrong message at the wrong time”. “Foreign aid from European taxpayers perpetuates the regime’s ability to neglect the needs of its people and stifles meaningful policy…

The mass flight of migrants from Venezuela in the face of economic collapse is approaching a “crisis point” said the United Nations migration agency, comparing it to refugees in the Mediterranean. Political and economic turmoil is forcing many to flee the situation in Venezuela, where people are scrounging to get food and other items necessary…